India recorded 18,987 new Covid-9 cases on Thursday morning, taking the total number of infections to 3,40,20,730 since the pandemic broke out in January last year. The new cases were 19.9% higher than Wednesday’s count of 15,823 infections.

The countrywide toll increased to 4,51,435 as 246 deaths were registered in the last 24 hours.

India currently has 2,06,586 active cases, and the number of active cases decreased by 1,067 in the past day. A total of 3,33,62,709 people have recovered from Covid-19 in the country till now.

A total of 96,82,20,997 Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the country till Wednesday. In the past 24 hours, 35,66,347 vaccine doses have been administered.

Other updates

  • The central government has chalked out a plan to mark the administering of 100 crore vaccine doses as a major achievement in the battle against Covid-19, NDTV has reported. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is likely to focus on states that will go to election next year such as Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab.
  • Maharashtra crossed 9 crore Covid-19 vaccines at 5.30 pm on Wednesday, state minister Aaditya Thackeray said on Twitter. Meanwhile, the state’s weekly average positivity rate has reduced this week as compared to the previous week, the Hindustan Times reported.
  • The Union health ministry has said that it has provided over 98.8 crore vaccine doses to states and Union Territories so far. Over 8.89 crore unutilised vaccine doses are currently available with states and Union Territories, it said.

Global updates

  • New Zealand on Thursday reported its biggest rise in Covid-19 infections in six weeks, with the country reporting 71 new cases in the past 24 hours, Reuters reported. The new cases were all reported from the country’s biggest city Auckland. On the previous day, the country had reported 55 new coronavirus cases.
  • Globally, the coronavirus has infected over 23.91 crore people and caused more than 48.73 lakh deaths since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.